REVERSING THE INWARD SPIRAL

 

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man,
prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy
and say to them, even to the shepherd, Thus says
the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have
been feeding yourselves!   Should not shepherds
feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe your
selves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings;
but you do not feed the sheep.   The weak you have
not strengthened, the sick you have not healed,
the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed
you have not brought back, the lost you have not
sought, and with force and harshness you have
ruled them. So they were scattered, because there
was no shepherd; and they became food for all the
wild beasts. My sheep were scattered, they
wandered over all the mountains and on every high

hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face
of the earth, with none to search or seek for them."  

                                                              Ezekiel 31:1-6

 

When we come into the kingdom of God it's like finding
our purpose for the first time in our life.

 

"At last I know what I'm here to do!"

 

Like a man who's been sick for years lying around in
hospitals and rotting in his own living room, now sud-
denly restored to health and able to go out and earn
his living again.   It doesn't matter whether the sun's
shining or whether it's grey and bitter cold, he gets
up singing ... this man is just so thankful to be able
to go out and do something in this world.

 

The refreshing thing about having a constant influx of
new believers in a fellowship is that they see so
clearly how good it is to be called by the Master and
sent to work in the Vineyard. And this enthusiasm
stimulates everyone else. Who of us doesn't pray,
when we see this joy in the new believer,

 

"God, give me a fresh dose of that!"?

 

But as the new ones keep pouring in....

 

- thank God for them,

- thank God for their enthusiasm,

 

among those of us who have been in the kingdom for a
while and have passed beyond the honeymoon,

                         fought our way through a few battles,
walked through a few valleys, there is
the opposite tendency.....

 

While the new ones are elated,

                                     confident, .

                                      bold, as they come crashing in
the front door, we who have been around for a while
tend to become weary,

                         cautious,

                         more and more concerned about ourselves.

 

Thus says the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel
who have been feeding yourselves!   Should not
shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you
clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter
the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.

 

"Lord, I've done my stint. How bout giving me a break
and letting me look out for myself for a while?"

 

And so we dream about getting a plot of land by a quiet
lake and raising our vegetables and chickens. And even
though we may never move to our little dream spot on
the sunny side of some far away hill, we begin to with-
draw into ourselves, or into our family,

or into our career,
or into our T.V. sets,
or into our favorite appetite, or

even our resentments.

 

Thus begins what could be called the inward spiral. It's
like riding around on the rim of a whirlpool.

 

"This is great. I don't even have to row my
boat ... it's going by itself."

 

We haven't noticed that we're merely going around in a
circle and that the circle is getting smaller.

 

By the time we realize what's happening we're so far
down into this thing all the rowing in the world does us
little good. Our life is now on an inward spiral where
more and more of our time,

  strength,

  thought is consumed on self.

 

And when a life which once served God with carefree aban-

don curves back in upon itself ... thinks of almost nothing

else ... what can this be but a foretaste of hell.

 

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ
Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the
word, be urgent in season and out of season, con-
vince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in
patience and in teaching. For the time is coming

when people will not endure sound teaching, but
having itching ears they will accumulate for them-
selves teachers to suit their own likings, and
will turn away from listening to the truth and
wander into myths. As for you, always be steady,
endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry.

 

For I am already on the point of being sacrificed;
the time of my departure has come. I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,

the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day,

and not only to me but also to all who have loved

his appearing.

 

Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in
love with this present world, has deserted me
and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to
Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me.   

                                           II Timothy 4:1-lla

 

Against the background of people getting sucked down
into the whirlpool of self ... wandering off into myth...
falling in love with this present world ... deserting

the kingdom to do their own thing, Paul keeps the faith
and urges Timothy to stay out of that whirlpool.

 

- Preach the word.

- Be urgent in season and out of season.
- Always be steady.

- Endure suffering.

- Do the work of an evangelist.
- Fulfill your ministry.

 

But what do we do if we're already halfway down into the
whirlpool? We know we're wrapped up in ourselves and
we've lost the zeal we once had. How do we reverse this
inward spiral?

 

There was a critical point not long after the resur-

rection when some of the disciples were in danger of

reverting to their old life. They'd been through some

strenuous days. First came the shock of seeing the Lord

mobbed and killed. Then came the joyful shock, but
shock nonetheless, of seeing him alive from the dead.
At the moment they're a little at loose ends. They've
come back to Galilee and for some strange reason Peter
has the urge to return to the life he had forsaken with
such abandon three-and-a-half years before ... maybe just
for a night.

 

Simon Peter said to them, "'I'm going fishing."

They said to him, "We will go with you." They

went out and got into the boat; but that night

they caught nothing.                         John 21:3

 

...This tendency to return to our old life ... to crawl
back into ourselves...

 

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the
beach; yet the disciples did not know that it
was Jesus.   Jesus said to them, "Children,
have you any fish?" They answered him, "No."

He said to them, "Cast the net on the right
side of the boat, and you will find some."
So they cast it, and now they were not able

to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That
disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It
is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it
was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he
was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea
But the other disciples came in the boat, drag-
ging the net full of fish, for they were not

far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

 

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal
fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that
you have just caught." So Simon Peter went  
aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large
fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and al-
though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast."

 

Nobody can deliver those men from this inward spiral of
going back into self but Jesus.   Jesus doesn't chew
them out.

 

"What are you doing fishing again? I thought
I told you you were to be fishers of men!...
and as soon as I'm out of sight for a minute!..."

 

No --- he calls them again with a sign. The same sign
he'd given them in the beginning ... the loaded net.   It
must have hit them with one hundred times the impact.
Then he invites them to eat with him again. And every
time they eat with him their attention is brought off
themselves and back on aim. Then finally, after all
this encouragement, Jesus gets to the point.

 

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to
Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love
me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes Lord;
you know that I love you." He said to him,
"Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"   He said
to him, "Yes Lord; you know that I love you."

He said to him, "Tend my sheep."   He said to
him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you
love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to
him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he
said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you
know that I love you." Jesus said to him,

"Feed my sheep."   John 21:1;-17

 

"Which life is it going to be Peter, your old life or
me? Do you love me more than these things?"

 

"Lord, you know that I love you!"

 

"Feed my lambs. Get your eyes back on me and

return to the work I have given you to do....

my sheep...my lambs."

 

To those of us who, in our hearts, have gone back to our
own fishing the message is the same. The same Lord
stands on the shore and calls to us.

 

            "Children, have you any fish? How's it going?"

 

            "Not so good" we answer.

 

            "Cast the net on the right side of the boat!"

 

Jesus gives us some arresting sign of his presence. Some
of us have had such a sign recently. Some of us are
about to receive such a sign.   Something will be break-
ing in upon our lives that will tell us, beyond the
shadow of a doubt, that the Lord is calling us once
again to drop everything and draw near to him. And as
we draw near to him the Lord says,

 

"Come and dine!"

 

We have fellowship with him in the breaking of bread...
his peace returns to our hearts. May this happen afresh
to each of us as we eat his body and drink his blood.

 

Then comes the question,

 

"Do you love me more than this old life you've
begun to dabble in again?"

 

"Lord, you know that I love you!"

 

"Feed my sheep ... Go out there and start serving
me by serving them."

 

Notice Peter didn't answer,

 

            "What sheep, Lord? What are you talking about?"

 

He knew .... and so do we.

 

- They're at our gate.

- They line the path of our daily life.

- They crowd into our minds as we try to pray.

 

His sheep ... who need the word we already have,

            the encouragement we have the power to give.

 

The word of the Lord came to me:   "Son of man,
prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy
and say to them, even to the shepherd, Thus says
the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have

been feeding yourselves!   Should not shepherds
feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe your-

selves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings;
but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have
not strengthened, the sick you have not healed,
the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed
you have not brought back, the lost you have not
sought, and with force and harshness you have
ruled them.   So they were scattered, because
there was no shepherd; and they became food for
all the wild beasts.  My sheep were scattered,
they wandered over all the mountains and on every
high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the
face of the earth, with none to search or seek

      for them."   Ezekiel 34:1-6

 

Now, if we will, we can reverse the inward spiral of our
lives. We can come out of our self prisons and get on
with his fishing instead of our own ... his sheep instead
of the monotony of self.

 

"Do you love me more than these?"

 

"Lord, you know than I love you."

"Feed my lambs .... Tend my sheep."